Chapter 63 - Chapter 63: The Plan - Part 1

Chapter 63: The Plan – Part It took a good long while before they left the stables. They probably would have stayed longer, but Olivia and girls ran out of the food they were given, and the stable hands then took the Umbrea out for some exercise in a fenced off area just outside of the village. So, after they all said their goodbyes to the Umbrea being trotted away from the stables, they decided to leave.

And not head after them. Which annoyed Lyrika.

“I want to see them run around.” Lyrika whined to Olivia.

If it was any other time, she may have broken down, but they all had stuff they needed to do before they could truly relax. The ticking clock on Ameril’s kidnapping came first.

“We take them out everyday around the same time, so you can come see them tomorrow if you like,” Milly jumped in with, “It’s quite a sight seeing them gallop around.”

“See, there are plenty of opportunities to see them. Once we have that…problem solved, then we can watch them.” Olivia said as the voice of reason.

“…fine.”

Walking out of the stables they all said goodbye to Milly, Lyrika grumbling it as she moped, and headed off towards the shops in the village.

They had only made it a few steps before Olivia felt something strange. The presence or aura that she felt when she first saw Milly suddenly came back and then all of a sudden disappeared. Turning back to look at Milly, her possibly being the strange denominator in the first instance when feeling the aura, but only ended up seeing only empty space.

She looked around the area, assuming she had walked off to get back to work in the stables, but saw neither hide nor hair of her. It was as if she had just vanished.

‘That’s…odd.’

She figured she could go back and try to find her, but it looked like she was just gone. Whether she dashed away or hid for some reason, she didn’t know. But, just from that, Olivia felt that they would need to watch out for her in the future. Whether she actually had anything to do with the strange aura, or the odd feeling it gave, she didn’t know. And while she hadn’t done anything bad to them, there was something about her that she felt they needed to be weary of.

…

“So, what are we going to name it?”

“Name what?” was the response from Philly, all the while being focused on observing the beast-kin around her.

“The Zentora, obviously,” Lyrika said as she shook her head.

“Oh right.”

After a quick hum Philly looked up in thought for a moment, and before long inspiration hit her.

“Spike.”

“Spike?” was the response both Olivia and Lyrika gave having heard that.

“Yeah, spike. Because of its tail.”

Flabbergasted Olivia just shook her head at the suggestion.

“We are not naming it spike,” she retorted.

“Why not.”

“Because it’s a stupid name,” Lyrika said agreeing with Olivia.

“Spikey then.”

“No, just no.”

Silence prevailed for a time after that, the only sound being that of the villagers walking nearby. With the lack of side streets, it was taking some time to actually reach the shopping area, as they had to get to the end of a whole row, to then travel down another. All the while as they walked, Philly was stuck trying to figure out what was so bad about the names she gave. To her they made logical sense.

“What sort of name are we going for then. We could name like Philly did, basing it on what it’s like, just with better sense than Spike. We could also name it after a god or goddess in some way. Other than that we could just give it a normal name.” Lyrika said as they turned the next corner on the way to the shops.

“A normal name, what like calling it Gary or Tom or something?”

“Gary? Tom? What sort of names are those, I’ve never heard of anyone called either of those before. Have you Philly?”

“No. But saying that. Olivia doesn’t really sound like a name I’ve heard before either. And it really doesn’t sound like and Orcish or Goblin name. How did you get your name?”

“…my parents gave it to me.” This wasn’t a topic she wanted to deal with right now as it was bound to lead into her transmigration from Earth, so she quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, what sort of normal name are you thinking then?”

“Althea, Effany, Lilestia, names like that.” Lyrika mentioned.

“Do you know one that’s androgynous.”

“Androgeeness? What’s that. Is that even a word?”

“I mean, for something that can be used for either a male or a female.”

“…Huh.” was all Lyrika managed to say as she really thought about it.

Yeah, Olivia knew it wouldn’t be easy. Coming up with a name on Earth that could be used for either a boy or girl was simple and could have been applied to the Zentora such as Sam or Sydney. But it felt much harder to do the same with the fantasy type flair that the names had in this world.

‘Why do they all have to sound like that in this world. Whose bright idea was it to make that the standard for naming?’

While all three mused away trying to figure out names, they eventually reached the shopping area, which meant the naming would have to go on the back burner for the moment.

“Right. We need to figure out how to kidnap someone from a carriage travelling with several guards. With only us three.” Olivia said as the searched the area for what ever shops could be useful.

“…Well while you figure out that…there is something that I need to get from the…apothecary.” Lyrika replied with as she turned and quickly headed away from the group.

“Wha-”

“So, What’s all this about a kidnapping?” Philly then asked with utter confusion.

…

After Olivia realised that while they may have thrown the word around a few times, neither her nor Lyrika had actually explained the situation to her. So, she gave her a quick recap of events, and told her about the situation where they needed to save Ameril.

“I see. Well, I’m glad you’re not actually kidnapping someone. Against their will I mean.”

“…err. Yeah…So, we need to figure out how to save her. Without killing anyone. We don’t want them hunting us down in revenge.”

“Understandable. Well while I have just learnt how to use a blade, I don’t see an in the face confrontation going well.”

“Yes. It’s just a shame Teagan couldn’t help me with this. If we had more people with us, we may have been able to intimidate them into handing her over.”

As she mused on that, she then spotted and started to head towards what was effectively a general store. She hoped something inside might give her some idea on how to solve the problem. As they reached it, Lyrika popped up next to them.

“Oh…nice to see you again. Get anything interesting?” Olivia asked surprised at how quick she was and the oddity of her just dashing away.

“No.”

“Then…wait…what did you get?”

“It’s…it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

‘Does she have a problem or something. Is it medicine for some underlying condition?’

Olivia couldn’t help but be worried. But with her refusal to tell her, she had to just let it go for the time being.

…

Before long they entered the general store. But as they did, where there was hustle and bustle, a silence quickly blanketed the area. All of the shoppers turned and stared at the hulking mass that had appeared in the doorway. To Olivia it felt like she was a bull talking into a China shop, and everyone was afraid that sun on movement would set it off.

The two guards behind them, having been forgotten until now, scared Olivia out of her wits as they appeared at the door.

‘Have they been with us this whole time. Its like they vanished and appeared out of thin air.’

One of the guards remained outside and the other ventured in with them. As they entered and the light reflected off their armour into the eyes of everyone in the shop, they all got back to what they were doing.

Now, with the awkwardness gone, they all had a look around.

To Lyrika, it wasn’t anything unusual. Sure, they may have had more than their smaller village did, but most of it was the same. Plus, a lot of it was already gear that they had.

Philly went off in her own world examining anything she hadn’t seen before. Having grown up in the Elven kingdom, and somewhat privileged having gone to an institute to learn and study, a lot of it was foreign to her. Even simple things like the tinderbox, was something new to understand, probably having left the creation of fires to others.

Olivia went ahead and stocked up on some of the supplies they lost from the trip to this village such as refilling the tinderbox and grabbing a new waterskin, her current one having gotten damaged without realising it.

Then came the supplies for their new party member, where she got the usual stuff that was needed. She grabbed another waterskin, bedding, a few emergency rations to name a few of the items Philly should be carrying with her.

Then came the topic of tents. The shop had a good few, varying in different sizes but all looking to be made of a sturdy material. She just had to check with Philly what she wanted.

“Philly, which tent would you like?” Olivia said as she called the girl in question over.

Philly turned up and Lyrika joined them as well having not found much of interest in the shop.

“Can’t I just sleep in your tent?”

“I mean it is big, but I don’t think all three of us could sleep in there.”

At that, a thought occurred to Olivia. Would they be able to continue their late night escapades. It was harder to do when you were camping out, the need to keep watch and not really feeling safe. But it wasn’t impossible for something to happen, which may have been the case with the tent she and Lyrika would have been sharing.

But with Philly now joining them, there was no way they could just continue what she and Lyrika had been doing. The girl was bound to hear them. Also, how would she explain that she and Lyrika would sleep in one tent, and Philly had to be in another. Sure, she already had an understanding of their relationship, but it hardly seemed fair for her to remain on her own in the night. Maybe it would be best to buy another tent and they all sleep separately. Or maybe they could get an even larger one, and all three could actually sleep in one.

This idea of the likely new sleeping arrangement was bound to cause some…discomfort for both of the, but it felt wrong to be doing those sort of activities with Philly nearby.

“In that case then, should we buy a new large tent for all of us, or we could get another tent so we can all sleep separately. Although, looking around I can’t see an even bigger-”

“No!” Lyrika quickly shouted out as she realised that this all meant. The problem though was that it made sense given the new travelling companion. So she had to back down from adamantly refusing. “…I mean. There is no need to do that. We can just…take turns sleeping in the two tents. Maybe even put them close together so none of us are truly alone. No need to waste more money on another one. I’m sure we can…manage.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It will be fine. I think.”

‘I mean it’s not like we have to do it. But having been doing those activities together it feels almost wrong that we wont be able to. Will I be able to deal with not doing it.’

That was question only time would answer.